Friday, January 10, 2014

Are Cell Phones and Microwave Radiation Really Unhealthy?

Are Cell Phones and Microwave Radiation Really Unhealthy?

Testing Shows Mixed Results, But Some Evidence is Clear

Dear EarthTalk: Could our health be negatively affected by all the radio frequencies being bandied about by cell phones and cell phone towers, wireless pagers and Internet systems, and other uses of radio frequency and microwave radiation?-- Beverly Filip, Santa Cruz, CA

Since the middle of the last century, technological advancements in telecommunications and other industries have led to significant increases in the use of radio frequencies. Equipment employing microwave and radio waves is today widely used not just in broadcasting and communications, but also in the health care industry, the food industry, and in a host of other industries in a wide range of applications.

Evidence Raises Concerns About Cell Phones and Microwave ExposureHealth advocates have worried for decades that exposure to frequencies emanating from these many sources might be harmful. And the ubiquity of such technology today--especially considering the quantum leap in cell phone usage in recent years--only makes such concerns that much more pressing.

How Do Cell Phones Affect Your Health?Various studies researching the health effects of cell phone use have yielded mixed results. Some studies suggested a link between exposure to radiation from cell phones and an increased risk of acoustic neuroma--a tumor of the nerve connecting the ear to the brain--but more recent research found no such links.

The issue is primarily heat. According to the Occupational Safety and Health Department of the Communication Workers of America (CWA), “As high frequency radio frequency radiation…penetrates the body, the exposed molecules move about and collide with one another causing friction and, thus, heat…If the radiation is powerful enough, the tissue or skin will be heated or burned.”

According to CWA, “there is substantial scientific data that establishes negative health effects associated with microwave radiation.” CWA cites cataracts as one possible negative health effect from prolonged exposure, as well as well as nervous system damage and even reproductive problems in both males and females. This issue was in the news in 1992 over the issue of the safety of police radar devices, but subsequent studies were inconclusive.

Young Cell Phone Users May See Negative Effects in Middle AgeAs to cell phones, the results of a study recently published in the academic journal Environmental Health Perspectives do not bode well for habitual chatterers. Researchers documented brain damage in laboratory rats exposed to radio frequencies from cell phones at levels comparable to what people would experience during normal use. The study’s authors expressed concern that “after some decades of (often) daily use, a whole generation of [cell phone] users may suffer negative effects, perhaps as early as middle age.”

How Do Cell Phones Affect the Environment?The environmental effects of radio frequencies are also largely unclear. Migrating birds have been known to fly right into cell phone and other communications towers. Some blame the radiation emanating from such towers for disorienting the birds and undermining their navigational abilities. Others chalk such incidents up to poor visibility associated with bad weather and nothing more.

Some farmers have observed that cows grazing near cell towers are more likely to experience still births, spontaneous abortions, birth deformities and behavioral problems, not to mention general declines in overall health. Moving cattle herds away from such towers has reportedly led to immediate health improvements.

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About Me

While I have always been extremely health conscious and am presently in excellent health, I did become temporarily out-of-commission (i.e. I was really sick) in 2005 with a number of at the time unexplainable symptoms. I was quite puzzled at the time because I had been eating mainly organically grown food, drinking spring water, doing Yoga every morning, and going to the gym several times a week. In other words, I was doing everything one is supposed to do to stay healthy. I was not supposed to get sick. It took me six months before discovering or even imagining the main source of the problem - which was in fact "overexposure to electromagnetic" - especially microwave - radiation. I was living within 200 meters of two cell phone towers at the time and within 500 meters of a 3rd one with numerous WiFi signals bleeding into my apartment from adjacent neighbors. I developed a host of symptoms, which are found in what has been misleadingly described as Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS) -- but much more accurately described as Radio Wave or Microwave Sickness. Large numbers of people in the USA suddenly started getting sick in 1984...